


Just One Touch

by AgtSpooky



Category: Quantum Leap
Genre: Best Friends, Episode Tag, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-26
Updated: 2013-06-26
Packaged: 2017-12-16 05:08:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/858145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgtSpooky/pseuds/AgtSpooky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam and Al finally get a chance to tell each other how much their friendship means to one another. (Takes place immediately after the events of the series finale, Mirror Image. )</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just One Touch

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written: March 20, 2012

~~~~~~

 

“…Al’s alive…and he’s coming home…”

 

Then with one last look at Beth Calavicci’s beautiful face – her eyes filled with tears, her expression full of hope for the first time in years - Dr. Sam Beckett leaped.

 

_Surrounded by blue-white light, tumbling, twisting, out of control somewhere in time and space. The same disconnected feeling each and every time. The same phrase each and every time – Let me go home…let me go home…let me go home…_

 

With a sudden lurch, Sam felt his consciousness drop, then slam to a stop, his stomach plummeting as if he were on a roller coaster, and he took a moment to steady himself before slowly opening his eyes. And immediately he felt his heart sink as he realized he was not home, not inside the waiting room ten stories underground at Project Quantum Leap.

 

With a heavy sigh Sam took in the sights around him. He was standing by himself in the doorway of a small shop on what appeared to be the main street of whatever town he was in. The sun was high and bright overhead, the air dry. Sam took a close look at the people walking along the sidewalk, the cars parked alongside the curb, trying to get a feel for the time period he had arrived in. Everything looked fairly modern to him. His best guess was sometime in the late 1990’s.

 

He stepped down from the doorway and out onto the sidewalk, blinking in the bright sunlight. He took a closer look at his surroundings as an intense feeling of déjà vu overtook him.

 

_I know this place._

 

Sam turned to his left, taking a step, and immediately ran into what he thought was a person. Startled, he took a step back and opened his mouth to apologize, only to snap his jaw shut at what he saw. It was no person, but…an alien? Tall and thin with grey skin and spidery arms and legs, a large head with enormous black eyes and…a baseball hat?

 

Sam blinked, confused at the sight before him. Where the hell was he? He moved closer to the alien, reading the words on the baseball hat – UFO Landing Zone Gift Shop. And there it was again, the feeling of déjà vu.

 

Determined to figure out where he was, Sam stepped around the statue and past the front window of the shop. Curious as to whether he could see the reflection of the person he Leaped into, he paused for a moment and looked into the glass. What he saw made his breath catch in his throat.

 

The reflection he saw was his own.

 

And through his swiss-cheese memory came a flash – himself, sitting at a bar, looking at his own reflection in the mirror. The bartender, telling him things, knowing things about Sam’s life, his leaping in time, giving him a chance to help his best friend, to put right something he should have done a long time ago.

 

“Beth!” Sam gasped. Oh God, did it work? Al…where was Al? Sam looked around frantically for his Observer, but he was nowhere to be found.

 

Catching sight of himself in the glass again, Sam wondered if this is how it would be from now on, Leaping with his own image. Like he did with Beth. Or was this perhaps another chance to put right something that was personal to him? But what? As far as he knew, he saved Al’s marriage to Beth, and he had saved his brother from being killed in Vietnam. His father, perhaps? Could he save him, too?

 

Sam looked around him again. No, this wasn’t Elk Ridge, Indiana. Based on the heat and architecture of the buildings around him, he was somewhere in the Southwest. Somewhere familiar. Spying a newspaper machine at the corner, Sam jogged down and pulled one out, eyes immediately going to the date at the top: June 15, 1999.

 

_June 15…June 15…why do I know that date?_   Shaking his head, cursing his shoddy memory, Sam glanced at the name of the paper: the Roswell Daily Record.

 

And in an instant it all came flooding back to him.

 

June 15th – it was Al Calavicci’s birthday. His mind was suddenly filled with memories of he and Al working for years out in the New Mexico desert, at Stallion’s Gate, building Project Quantum Leap. And every year on Al’s birthday they would drive into Roswell, the closest town, and laugh at the tourists and the rubber aliens, wondering what people would think about an actual time travel experiment happening only 50 miles away. They’d get take-out and non-alcoholic beer (Al’s sobriety still an accomplishment to be proud of) from Al’s favorite Mexican restaurant and head to Bottomless Lakes State Park. They’d spend the day relaxing, eating, staying until the sunset painted the sky in brilliant shades of orange and yellow and pink.

 

And then Sam would pull out the Twinkie. It was a joke that became a tradition between the two of them. The first year at the Project, on Al’s birthday, Sam realized he had no birthday cake for his friend. The closest he could find was a Twinkie in the vending machine. So he stuck a candle in it and presented it with a flourish. After Al finished laughing, he made a wish, blew out the candle and then broke the Twinkie in half. And every year after, for the next four years, until Sam stepped into the Accelerator, the two friends shared a Twinkie on Al’s birthday.

 

Sam swallowed deeply as the memories faded. It was no coincidence he was here, on this date. It couldn’t be. Hadn’t the bartender insinuated that Sam himself was truly in charge of his own Leaps? Had he subconsciously brought himself here?

 

Sam shook his head. It didn’t matter how he got here. What mattered was he was being given the opportunity to see and talk to his best friend as himself for the first time in five years. To see Al not as a hologram, but as a real person.

 

He needed to get out to Bottomless Lakes State Park.

 

~~~~~

 

The entire way down the path to “their spot” on the shore of the lake, Sam’s heart was in his throat. Would Al be there or was it foolish to think his friend would have continued on with his birthday tradition without Sam there? Coming to the last bend in the path before the lake, Sam slowed to a stop and took a long, steadying breath. Then placing one foot in front of the other, he walked around the tree to see the lake and the sand…and his best friend.

 

Al sat with his back to the path, on a fallen log, dressed in a bright red blazer and white slacks, gazing out over the shimmering water…a Twinkie with a candle in it sitting beside him.

 

Tears sprung to Sam’s eyes at the sight, and for a moment he was rooted to the spot. Then he was running, laughing, calling out Al’s name.

 

Startled, Admiral Al Calavicci jumped up from the log and turned around, squinting at the figure running toward him. Sam saw the moment recognition took hold. Al’s eyes went wide and he stuttered back a step in shock, nearly falling over a piece of driftwood.

 

Then before Al could even say a word, Sam was in front of him, reaching out, after five long years finally, _finally_ able to touch his friend.

 

He wrapped his arms around Al, clutching at the shorter man, nearly knocking him over, resting his forehead on Al’s shoulder, feeling the other man’s arms come around his back, holding on just as tightly. The tears came then, falling unchecked from Sam’s eyes, wetting the bright red fabric of Al’s jacket.

 

“Sam…Sam, my God…how?” he heard Al whisper, voice thick with emotion. “How did you get home?”

 

Sam raised his head, looking down into Al’s eyes, as bright and wet as his own. “I’m…” Sam swallowed, shaking his head “I’m not home, Al.”

 

Al’s brow furrowed. “I don’t understand. I can see you. YOU. And touch you.”

 

Sam pulled back, reluctant to lose contact with his friend, and wiped at his eyes, watched as Al did the same. “It’s kind of a long story.”

 

Al chuckled. “Nothing with you has ever been simple, kid.” He sat back down on the log, gestured for Sam to do the same. “I’m all ears.”

 

Sam took a breath, reached out and lay a hand on Al’s shoulder. “God, Al…” he whispered.

 

Al smiled and reached up to briefly cover Sam’s hand with his own. “I know, kid.”

 

Sam nodded, smiling in return, and let his hand fall back down to the log. “Al, I met someone on my last Leap. Someone who knew about me, and you, and what I’ve been doing, traveling through time.”

 

Al’s brow furrowed once again. “Who was this guy? Where were you?”

 

“I don’t…I don’t know.” Sam answered. “He told me, or rather he implied, that it’s not God, Fate, Time or Whatever that’s been Leaping me around. But that it’s been me, all along.”

 

“You? But…how?” Al asked, confused.

 

Sam shook his head in frustration. “I don’t know. I don’t know if I even believe him. Because if it’s true…why haven’t I come home?” he asked, anguish in his voice.

 

Al was silent a moment, trying to take everything in. “I think…if what this guy said is true, it’s because you’re the world’s biggest Boy Scout, just like I’ve told you before. You’re a good person, Sam Beckett. You’ve always hated to see people in pain, or in trouble and you’d do anything to help.” Al pointed at himself. “Just look at me. I was an angry drunk, self-destructing and taking my career at Starbright with me. If it hadn’t been for you, seeing something in me worth saving, I’d have lost everything, including Beth.”

 

Sam sucked in a breath. “Beth?”

 

Al nodded. “Why she didn’t divorce me back then I’ll never know. If not for you I wouldn’t have her, or my beautiful daughters.”

 

Sam felt tears prick his eyes once again and he looked heavenward. _It worked…oh God, it worked…Beth listened to me. Thank you, thank you for letting me give him the only thing he ever wanted…_

 

Al squeezed his arm. “Sam? You okay?”

 

Sam smiled, blinked rapidly. “Yeah, yeah. I’m more than okay.”

 

Al looked at him curiously for a moment before continuing. “If you really are controlling your Leaps, Sam, it’s because you feel that your work isn’t done yet.”

 

Sam sighed, his voice weary. “I’m tired, Al. I’m so tired.”

 

It was Al’s turn to lay a hand on Sam’s shoulder. “I know you are, kid. But I’m right here with you until the end. Until you do come home for good.”

 

Sam’s smile was grateful. “You have always been there for me, haven’t you? And I think that’s why I’m here. Since I left wherever that place was, I’ve been getting the chance to do some…personal things. That person, whoever he was, also implied that my Leaps are going to get harder. I think he wanted me to have the chance to take one last break, to give us a chance to just…talk.”

 

“We never seem to get that opportunity, do we?” Al replied. “It’s always one crisis after another, isn’t it?”

 

Sam nodded in agreement. “I don’t know how much time I have here, Al. I want you to know how much your friendship means to me. Without you, I don’t know how I would’ve made it through the last five years. You’ve been my rock. You’ve saved my life more times than I can count.” Sam felt his throat closing up with emotion and he swallowed deeply. “And I never had the chance to just reach out and touch you. To shake your hand, to slap you on the shoulder…to give you a simple hug.” Sam’s voice broke on his last word and he reached out, placing both of his hands on Al’s shoulders.

 

Al’s voice was gruff. “God, Sam…it’s been just as hard on me, too. So many times I wanted to help you. To watch you getting the crap kicked out of you or trapped in that insane asylum or in the electric chair, yelling my name and there was _nothing_ I could do. All I wanted was to reach out and give you my hand, pull you up, and I _couldn’t_.”

 

Al paused, took a breath. “Let’s not forget you saved MY life, too. I would have died in 1945 if it wasn’t for you. You sacrificed what may have been your only chance to be home for good to go back and save me. I will _never_ forget that, Sam.”

 

“You’re my best friend, Al. I couldn’t let you die,” Sam said simply.

 

Al shook his head with a smile. “Boy Scout.”

 

Sam shrugged and ducked his head, giving Al’s shoulders a squeeze before dropping his arms down. He started to speak, but felt the familiar tingle start deep inside his body and he stood quickly. _No, not yet. Let me have more time with him._

 

Al stood as well. “Sam? What’s wrong?”

 

“I have to go, I’m sorry. Promise me something, Al,” he begged of his friend, voice thick with unshed tears. “Promise me you won’t give up on me.”

 

Al stepped forward and pulled his best friend into one final embrace. “Never, Sam. We’ll get you home. I swear to God we’ll get you home.”

 

Sam raised his head, hazel eyes bright. “Thank y—“

 

And then he was gone in a brilliant flash of blue-white light, leaving Admiral Al Calavicci standing alone in the gathering sunset. He stood there as the sky turned pink and orange before turning and picking up the makeshift birthday cake with the single candle. He lit it with a flick of his lighter, paused and looked toward the sky with the millions of sparkling stars. Somewhere, out there, was his best friend. Tired and alone.

 

Al looked down at the candle’s flame, closed his eyes…and made a wish.

 

**THE END**


End file.
